SAM 046 | Interview with Chief Bobby Halton

Chief Halton began his fire career in structural firefighting with the Albuquerque (NM) Fire Department. He left as chief of operations in 2004 and joined the Coppell (TX) Fire Department as its chief. He left this position to assume his duties at Fire Engineering. He is a graduate of the University of New Mexico. He has served on National Fire Protection Association technical committees and is active with the National Fallen Firefighters Life Safety Initiatives. In this two-part interview (Part 2 will be Episode 47) we start by talking about FDIC International 2015 and all the exciting learning and networking opportunities you’ll have there. You’ll quickly see why the FDIC is the premier fire service educational conference in the world. During the interview Chief Halton shared with me the FDIC is the largest educational conference of its kind in the world as far as attendance and course offerings. There are 280 hands-on training session instructors who will deliver 21 classes on Monday and Tuesday and 211 course offerings on Wednesday and Thursday. And that’s only the beginning of what FDIC International has to offer. Then we’ll transition into a discussion where Chief Halton shares what he’s seeing that gives him encouragement about firefighter safety. In Part 2 of the interview we’ll pick up the discussion and Chief Halton shares what he’s seeing in the fire service that’s causing him concern… and we’ll conclude the episode with him sharing three things that are on his firefighter safety wish list. I want to apologize to the listeners and to Chief Halton for having some audio issues with Skype. Where I could, I edited the audio to reduce the annoyance.   Our sponsor: Midwest Fire MidwestFire.com   Intro music Safety Dance (1982) Men Without Hats GMC - Virgin Records   Guest Contact Information Chief Bobby Halton Editor-in-chief, Fire Engineering Education Director, FDIC International [email protected]   Situational Awareness Matters! website www.SAMatters.com   Firefighter Near Miss Reporting System http://www.firefighternearmiss.com/   Contact Rich Gasaway www.RichGasaway.com [email protected]   612-548-4424